Established in 2005, ShareAction are a registered charity who aim to influence corporate behaviour through investor engagement. Their work began with a collaboration with the Universities Superannuation Scheme for the creation of Fair Pensions but has evolved to include the analysis of the financial system as a whole. They encourage involvement from all areas of finance such as asset managers, pension funds, insurers and banks.  

The purpose of their work is to improve the standards within the financial system and as a result, the wider real economy. They work alongside institutional investors to push for action on key issues that we know our clients are concerned about, such as climate change, workplace inequality and health. They hope to help build a financial system that serves our planet and its people. 

They want investors to know that they have a plethora of tools at their disposal. Being an investor means having the ability to get involved with collaborative engagement, public or private engagement or even to go as far as divesting. ShareAction chooses to use their investor power by asking questions at the Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of publicly listed companies. 

ShareAction trains and supports individuals and organisations to use shareholder activism to engage with public companies. ShareAction AGM activists will attend the AGMs of these companies to ask questions about key environmental, social and governance issues. Previous questions asked at AGMs include topics such as high levels of pay, board diversity, digital rights, human trafficking and renewable energy.  

Asking questions at AGMs can be an escalation tool and can lead to a company speeding up their actions on topical issues as the investors are holding the company to account. It also gives investors the opportunity to capture management’s attention and legitimise the chosen topic. The more attention the topic is given, the more chance of inspiring others to get involved. 

When asking a question, the activist will be required to submit it one month in advance. ShareAction advises giving the topic in advance but not the question as this reduces the chance that the company can provide a scripted, generic answer. It is important to pay attention to any character limits to ensure that the topic is fully covered. 

Julian and our marketing assistant, Marian, recently took part in ShareAction training regarding AGM shareholder action. They’ve now been given the opportunity to attend the AGM of Lloyd’s Banking Group to ask a question about the ethnicity pay gap. If you’d like to read more about this campaign, click here. 

The rest of the team have also been given the opportunity to attend an AGM should they wish to. We can choose which AGM to attend so we think it makes sense to ask our clients which one we should go to. As representatives of Ethical Futures, we will always put the views and opinions of our clients at the forefront of any action we take. 

So, if you have any thoughts you’d like to share with us about shareholder action, please get in touch. And let us know if there is a specific company whose AGM you would like us to attend. 

If you’d like to find out more about ShareAction or get involved with their activism yourself, click here to visit their website.